How do I convince my city to remove a car lane for a dedicated bike lane?

Last Modified on 02/15/2019 9:28 am EST

City officials are most likely to consider removing a car lane for a dedicated bike lane when there’s an existing infrastructure project planned for the proposed street. The project could be a road diet, where the number of car lanes are reduced; or it could a project to repave the street.

Because city officials already want to improve the street, they’ll be more receptive to your pitch—compared to a street for which officials have no plans.

However, that doesn’t mean they’ll comply. Commonly, city officials believe that removing a car lane will increase congestion. Although often incorrect, the idea is logical: cars must now travel with one less lane.

Studies, however, show that when cities remove car lanes, traffic often remains consistent and crashes decrease :

As you make your pitch to different stakeholders—the council members, the traffic engineers, the business owners—you’ll hear different complaints: “this will cause more traffic”; “this will hurt my business”; etc.

These studies will equip you to show these different stakeholders that not only will removing a car lane for a dedicated bike lane maintain traffic—but equally important, it will reduce crashes and increase sales for businesses.

Help readers get their questions answered by sharing insights, links, and feedback in the comments below. We’ll add helpful comments to the article so they can help other readers get their questions answered as well.